No Truth in advertising: Enbridge continues to lie and deceive the public right before Earth Day

As we get ready to celebrate Earth Day 2023, we need to remain vigilant to the propaganda of the fossil fuel industry. 

This means monitoring the amount of money the fossil fuel industry spends during an election year and how much then spend on lobbying annually, to the way that this political influence impacts policy. Within the past month, the Biden administration has broken a campaign promise by green lighting the Willow project in Alaska, along with a more recent gas fracking project that will also happen in Alaska. 

Closer to home here in Michigan, one of the most deceptive corporations, the Enbridge Corporation, which operates Line 5 and is still pushing a new tunnel underneath the Great Lakes for the tar sands oil that Line 5 pumps on a daily basis.

Despite Governor Whitmer’s claim to shut down Line 5 (made during her 2018 campaign promise), the Enbridge Corporation continues to put the Great Lakes ecosystem at risk and perpetuates Climate Change with the massive amounts of fossil fuels they are transporting in Line 5 and Line 3, just to name two of their operations in the Great Lakes.

However, these crimes against the planet haven’t prevented the Enbridge Corporation’s deceptive advertising campaigns, especially the ones that are touting the company’s sustainability practices. For example, in a recent video promotional piece, the Enbridge Corporation blatantly lies about numerous aspects of what they do. 

Lie #1 – At Enbridge we are working to deliver a safer, cleaner and affordable energy future, and renewables will be an essential element of that transition. From 2002 to present, Enbridge and its joint ventures and subsidiaries reported 307 hazardous liquids incidents to federal regulators — one incident every 20 days on average. These spills released a total of 66,059 barrels (2.8 million gallons, or more than four Olympic-sized swimming pools) of hazardous liquids.

Lie #2 – Renewables are expected to be the world’s fastest growing source of electric generation through the year 2050. This lie is rather deceptive. While it is “expected” that renewables will be the fastest growing source of electric generation, Enbridge continues to be a company that is primarily focused on being a trafficker in fossil fuels. Also, using the 2050 date is a bit misleading, since, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has made it clear that we need to reduce our consumption of fossil fuels by 80% by 2030 or we will exceed the point of no return for global warming. 

Lie #3 – We play a major role in transporting energy that helps build and shape the world around us. Again, this lie is rooted in deception and perception. Enbridge is a major energy transporting company and they do have an impact in shaping the world around us, but not in the same way they think they do. In this lie Enbridge wants to present themselves as the “good guy” because they supply energy, but it completely ignores the environmental, social, economic and political consequences of relying primarily on fossil fuels. 

Lie #4 – To date we have invested $7 billion Canadian dollars into renewable energy. With this lie it is a matter of omission. Enbridge has invested $7 billion in renewable, but the company’s total value in 2023 is $81.1 billion currently. This means that Enbridge has invested less than 10% of the company’s worth into renewables, a percentage that is woefully inadequate to meet the 2030 fossil fuel global reduction goal. 

Lie #5 – Sustainability is central to everything we do at Enbridge. This is just a bold face lie. It denies the fact that the majority of their operations are rooted in fossil fuels. Anyone organizing against their fossil fuel projects, like the Line 3 project in Minnesota, are arrested and given harsh sentences. Hard to see how that is a sustainable practice. According to OpenSecrets.org, the Enbridge Corporation has spent millions to lobby Congress on bills that will allow them to traffic in fossil fuels…..also unsustainable.

Lie #6 – Demand for energy is growing and we are helping to meet that demand in ways that are environmentally and socially responsible. How can Enbridge be environmentally responsible, when most of their company’s efforts/profits are based on trafficking in fossil fuels. It follows that if corporations are not environmentally responsible, it is impossible for them to be socially responsible. As one example, by perpetuating the use and burning of fossil fuels, the Enbridge Corporation plays a role in the air pollution, which has a major impact on the social health of people. Ambient (outdoor) air pollution is estimated to have caused 4.2 million premature deaths worldwide in 2019. 

If we are serious about Climate Justice and want to even consider having a future that will be sustainable for all living things, then we must avoid being deceived by corporations like Enbridge. More importantly, we must work like hell to actively resist and shut down fossil fuel operations by primarily using Direct Action tactics and not relying on governments to create a sustainable world. According to a report put out by the Indigenous Environmental Network in 2021, Indigenous-led resistance campaigns against pipelines in the US and Canada have reduced greenhouse gas pollution by at least 25% annually since these campaigns began. These are the kinds of action we need to support and participate in if we are serious about having a future. Shut down Line 5 NOW!